IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ukm/jlekon/v52y2018i1p89-103.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trade Linkages and Skill Demand: Empirical Evidence for the Malaysian Electrical and Electronics Industries

Author

Listed:
  • Jauhari, Azmafazilah Binti

    (Fakulti Ekonomi dan Pengurusan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 43600 UKM Bangi Selangor)

  • khalifah, noor

    (Fakulti Ekonomi dan Pengurusan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 43600 UKM Bangi Selangor)

Abstract

This article empirically investigates whether trade linkages have any contribution to skill upgrading in the Malaysian electrical and electronics (E&E) firms by using establishment level data. The richness of data provided by Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) enable us to explore the direct impact of each aspect of trade linkages, including exports of goods, imported inputs (outsourcing), and foreign ownership (FDI). More crucially, this research analyse the effects of the modern trade pattern, i.e. vertical trade which would best capture the current trend in the Malaysian E&E sector - high overlap in exports and imported inputs. The skill demand is analysed using dynamic skill share demand equation and GMM (generalised method of moments) estimator addresses both the endogeneity and firm fixed effect. Contrary to previous studies, results suggest that export and outsourcing do not significantly contribute to skill upgrading in Malaysian E&E establishments within the period under study. Plus, vertical trade and foreign share have significant negative impact on relative demand for skilled workers. These findings provide evidence that vertical trade as well as the presence of multinational corporations (MNCs) are associated with skill downgrading in Malaysian E&E sector. Empirical evidence does not uphold the conventional wisdom of the beneficial effects of trade especially ultra-vertical or export processing trade on skill upgrading.

Suggested Citation

  • Jauhari, Azmafazilah Binti & khalifah, noor, 2018. "Trade Linkages and Skill Demand: Empirical Evidence for the Malaysian Electrical and Electronics Industries," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 52(1), pages 89-103.
    • Handle: RePEc:ukm:jlekon:v:52:y:2018:i:1:p:89-103
    DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JEM-2018-5201-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ukm.my/jem/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/jeko_521-8.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/JEM-2018-5201-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gallego, Francisco A., 2012. "Skill Premium in Chile: Studying Skill Upgrading in the South," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 594-609.
    2. Gordon H. Hanson & Ann Harrison, 2022. "Trade Liberalization And Wage Inequality In Mexico," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 3, pages 43-60, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    3. Jorge Saba Arbache & Andy Dickerson & Francis Green, 2004. "Trade Liberalisation and Wages in Developing Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(493), pages 73-96, February.
    4. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler & Jonathan Temple, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Papers 2001-W21, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    5. Robert McNabb & Rusmawati Said, 2013. "Trade Openness and Wage Inequality: Evidence for Malaysia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1118-1132, August.
    6. Jose Manuel Campa & Linda S. Goldberg, 1997. "The evolving external orientation of manufacturing: a profile of four countries," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 3(Jul), pages 53-81.
    7. Horgos, Daniel, 2009. "Labor market effects of international outsourcing: How measurement matters," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 611-623, October.
    8. Menon, Jayant, 1998. "Total factor productivity growth in foreign and domestic firms in Malaysian manufacturing," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 251-280.
    9. Julien Gourdon, 2011. "Wage inequality in developing countries: South–South trade matters," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 58(4), pages 359-383, December.
    10. Bob Anderton & Paul Brenton, 2014. "Outsourcing And Low-Skilled Workers In The Uk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: INTERNATIONAL TRADE, DISTRIBUTION AND DEVELOPMENT Empirical Studies of Trade Policies, chapter 9, pages 185-203, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    11. Meschi, Elena & Taymaz, Erol & Vivarelli, Marco, 2011. "Trade, technology and skills: Evidence from Turkish microdata," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(S1), pages 60-70.
    12. Wood, Adrian, 1997. "Openness and Wage Inequality in Developing Countries: The Latin American Challenge to East Asian Conventional Wisdom," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 11(1), pages 33-57, January.
    13. Julien GOURDON, 2007. "Trade and Wage Inequality in Developing Countries: South-South Trade Matter," Working Papers 200710, CERDI.
    14. Aekapol Chongvilaivan & Jung Hur & Yohanes E. Riyanto, 2009. "Outsourcing Types, Relative Wages, And The Demand For Skilled Workers: New Evidence From U.S. Manufacturing," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(1), pages 18-33, January.
    15. Egger, Peter & Pfaffermayr, Michael & Wolfmayr-Schnitzer, Yvonne, 2001. "The international fragmentation of Austrian manufacturing: The effects of outsourcing on productivity and wages," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 257-272, November.
    16. Feenstra, Robert C & Hanson, Gordon H, 1996. "Globalization, Outsourcing, and Wage Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 240-245, May.
    17. Bruno Cesar Araújo & Francesco Bogliacino & Marco Vivarelli, 2011. "Technology, trade and skills in Brazil: Some evidence from microdata," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1171, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    18. Eli Bekman & John Bound & Stephen Machin, 1998. "Implications of Skill-Biased Technological Change: International Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1245-1279.
    19. Ingo Geishecker & Holger Görg, 2008. "Winners and losers: a micro‐level analysis of international outsourcing and wages," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(1), pages 243-270, February.
    20. Bernard, Andrew B. & Jensen, J. Bradford, 1997. "Exporters, skill upgrading, and the wage gap," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 3-31, February.
    21. Geishecker, Ingo & Gorg, Holger, 2005. "Do unskilled workers always lose from fragmentation?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 81-92, March.
    22. Prema-chandra Athukorala & Jayant Menon, 2010. "Global Production Sharing, Trade Patterns and Determinants of Trade Flows," Departmental Working Papers 2010-06, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    23. Feenstra, R.C. & Hanson, G.H., 1995. "Foreign Investment, Outsourcing and Relative Wages," Papers 95-14, California Davis - Institute of Governmental Affairs.
    24. Yamashita, Nobuaki, 2010. "The impact of foreign outsourcing on wage inequality in US manufacturing: New evidence," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(1), pages 46-48, April.
    25. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    26. Athukorala, Prema–Chandra & Menon, Jayant, 2010. "Global Production Sharing, Trade Patterns, and Determinants of Trade Flows in East Asia," Working Papers on Regional Economic Integration 41, Asian Development Bank.
    27. Pablo Agnese, 2012. "Employment Effects of Offshoring across Sectors and Occupations in Japan," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 26(4), pages 289-311, December.
    28. Hummels, David & Ishii, Jun & Yi, Kei-Mu, 2001. "The nature and growth of vertical specialization in world trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 75-96, June.
    29. Joy Mazumdar & Myriam Quispe-Agnoli, 2004. "Can capital-skill complementarity explain the rising skill premium in developing countries? evidence from Peru," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2004-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    30. Gorg, Holger & Hanley, Aoife, 2005. "Labour demand effects of international outsourcing: Evidence from plant-level data," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 365-376.
    31. khalifah, noor & Jaafar, Zakiah, 2017. "Technical Efficiency of Establishments in Malaysia’s Electrical and Electronics Industries: Exporting or Vertical Trade?," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 51(1), pages 157-130.
    32. Head, Keith & Ries, John, 2002. "Offshore production and skill upgrading by Japanese manufacturing firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 81-105, October.
    33. Helg, Rodolfo & Tajoli, Lucia, 2005. "Patterns of international fragmentation of production and the relative demand for labor," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 233-254, August.
    34. Pablo Fajnzylber & Ana Fernandes, 2009. "International economic activities and skilled labour demand: evidence from Brazil and China," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 563-577.
    35. Pinelopi K. Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2004. "Trade, Inequality, and Poverty: What Do We Know? Evidence from Recent Trade Liberalization Episodes in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 10593, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    36. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2007. "Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 39-82, March.
    37. Mary Amiti & Donald R. Davis, 2012. "Trade, Firms, and Wages: Theory and Evidence," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(1), pages 1-36.
    38. Yamashita, Nobuaki, 2008. "The impact of production fragmentation on skill upgrading: New evidence from Japanese manufacturing," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 545-565, December.
    39. Pavcnik, Nina, 2003. "What explains skill upgrading in less developed countries?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 311-328, August.
    40. Feenstra, Robert C. & Hanson, Gordon H., 1997. "Foreign direct investment and relative wages: Evidence from Mexico's maquiladoras," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-4), pages 371-393, May.
    41. Robertson, Raymond, 2004. "Relative prices and wage inequality: evidence from Mexico," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 387-409, December.
    42. Meschi, Elena & Vivarelli, Marco, 2009. "Trade and Income Inequality in Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 287-302, February.
    43. Berman, Eli & Machin, Stephen, 2000. "Skill-Based Technology Transfer around the World," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 16(3), pages 12-22, Autumn.
    44. Stephen Bond & Anke Hoeffler, 2001. "GMM Estimation of Empirical Growth Models," Economics Series Working Papers 2001-W21, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    45. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    46. Shandre Thangavelu & Aekapol Chongvilaivan, 2011. "The impact of material and service outsourcing on employment in Thailand's manufacturing industries," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(27), pages 3931-3944.
    47. Arndt, Sven W., 1997. "Globalization and the open economy," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 71-79.
    48. Mary Amiti & Shang-Jin Wei, 2005. "Service Offshoring, Productivity, and Employment: Evidence from the United States," IMF Working Papers 2005/238, International Monetary Fund.
    49. Julien Gourdon, 2011. "Wage inequality in developing countries: South–South trade matters," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 58(4), pages 359-383, December.
    50. Vivarelli, Marco & Bogliacino, Francesco & Araújo, Bruno César, 2011. "Technology, trade and skills in Brazil: evidence from micro data," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    51. Sanghoon Ahn & Kyoji Fukao & Keiko Ito, 2008. "Outsourcing in East Asia and its impact on the Japanese and Korean Labour Markets," OECD Trade Policy Papers 65, OECD Publishing.
    52. Donald J. Robbins, 1996. "Evidence on Trade and Wages in the Developing World," OECD Development Centre Working Papers 119, OECD Publishing.
    53. Jose Campa & Linda S. Goldberg, 1997. "The Evolving External Orientation of Manufacturing Industries: Evidence from Four Countries," NBER Working Papers 5919, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    54. Egger, Hartmut & Egger, Peter, 2005. "Labor market effects of outsourcing under industrial interdependence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 349-363.
    55. Robbins, Donald J., 1996. "Hos Hits Facts: Facts Win Evidence On Trade And Wages In The Developing World," Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) Papers 294374, Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elena Meschi & Erol Taymaz & Marco Vivarelli, 2016. "Globalization, technological change and labor demand: a firm-level analysis for Turkey," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 152(4), pages 655-680, November.
    2. Ilina Srour & Erol Taymaz & Marco Vivarelli, 2014. "Globalization, Technology and Skills: Evidence from Turkish Longitudinal Microdata," ERC Working Papers 1405, ERC - Economic Research Center, Middle East Technical University, revised Jun 2014.
    3. Ilina Srour & Marco Vivarelli & Erol Taymaz, 2013. "Technological Change and Skill-based Employment Disparities: Evidence from Turkey," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1393, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    4. Rosario Crinò, 2009. "Offshoring, Multinationals And Labour Market: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 197-249, April.
    5. Srour, Ilina & Taymaz, Erol & Vivarelli, Marco, 2013. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Skill-Enhancing Trade in Turkey: Evidence from Longitudinal Microdata," IZA Discussion Papers 7320, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Getinet Haile & Ilina Srour & Marco Vivarelli, 2017. "Imported technology and manufacturing employment in Ethiopia," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, April.
    7. Haile, Getinet & Srour, Ilina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2017. "Globalization, Technological Change and Skills: Evidence from Ethiopia," GLO Discussion Paper Series 16, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    8. Lanouar Charfeddine & Zouhair Mrabet, 2015. "Trade liberalization and relative employment: further evidence from Tunisia," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(1), pages 173-202, June.
    9. Agnese, Pablo, 2009. "Japan and her dealings with offshoring: An empirical analysis with aggregate data," MPRA Paper 16505, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. repec:ipg:wpaper:2014-504 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Haile, Getinet Astatike & Srour, Ilina & Vivarelli, Marco, 2013. "The Impact of Globalization and Technology Transfer on Manufacturing Employment and Skills in Ethiopia," IZA Discussion Papers 7820, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Meschi, Elena & Taymaz, Erol & Vivarelli, Marco, 2011. "Trade, technology and skills: Evidence from Turkish microdata," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(S1), pages 60-70.
    13. João Amador & Sónia Cabral, 2014. "Global Value Chains: Surveying Drivers, Measures and Impacts," Working Papers w201403, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    14. Getinet Haile & Ilina Srour & Marco Vivarelli, 2014. "Globalization and Technology Transfer in Ethiopia: Their Impact on Domestic Employment and Skills," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1498, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    15. Vivarelli, Marco, 2018. "Globalisation, structural change and innovation in emerging economies: The impact on employment and skills," MERIT Working Papers 2018-037, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    16. Elizabeth J. Casabianca & Alessia Lo Turco & Claudia Pigini, 2019. "Import penetration and returns to tasks: recent evidence from the Peruvian labour market," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 56(2), pages 551-617, February.
    17. García Muñoz, Teresa María & Milgram Baleix, Juliette & Odeh, Omar Odeh, 2020. "Inequality in Latin America: The role of the nature of trade and partners," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 14, pages 1-35.
    18. Marco Vivarelli, 2015. "Structural Change and Innovation in Developing Economies: A Way Out of the Middle Income Trap ?," LEM Papers Series 2015/09, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    19. Horgos, Daniel, 2009. "Labor market effects of international outsourcing: How measurement matters," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 611-623, October.
    20. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2007. "Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(1), pages 39-82, March.
    21. Marco Vivarelli, 2014. "The Middle Income Trap: A Way Out Based on Technological and Structural Change," DISCE - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali dises1403, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ukm:jlekon:v:52:y:2018:i:1:p:89-103. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Muhammad Asri Abd Ghani (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feukmmy.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.